Your personal brand is what makes you unique and instantly recognizable. And it’s a fact that people with a positive brand are more successful. Here are 5 tips to develop an inspirational brand.
- Be ridiculously good at what you do. Most people talk about how good they are but the ones who let their work do the talking develop the best personal brand. My tip: associate with the best people. Ones with a strong work ethic.
- Know and live by your personal values and never compromise them just to fit in. People will respect you for it. Some values include: honesty, humility, humour, patience, generosity, caring, fairness, respect, and reliability. And let your words and actions reflect these values. My tip: It’s easier to live by your values if you hang out with people who share them.
- Dress like a Spice Girl. Seriously though, what I mean here is, wear clothes that are true to your personal style. If you are sporty by nature then dress that way. If you are posh then dress classy. People will start to associate you with that style. The aim is to be comfortable with who you are. Nobody likes a fake; which means ignoring trends and the Kardashians.
- Keep learning and keep developing your brand. And the best way to do that is to read great books by great people. Every night I go home to be with Deepak Chopra, Steve Jobs, C S Lewis, Jim Rohn, Martin Seligman, Daniel Pink, Sir Ken Robinson, Anthony Robbins, Stephen Covey. I have their books all over my place. Each have shaped my personal brand in one way or another.
- Be original. Oscar Wilde once said “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.” One of the great tragedies of life is that we are born into this genius, this originality, this authenticity, and yet the world sort of beats it out of us. Our parents and teachers, well intentioned, say, “Be like everyone else. Talk like everyone else. Think like everyone else. Don’t be a disrupter.” And as we grow through life there’s this resignation into mediocrity. So my advice to you is to find your hidden talents, not the talents of the person in the workstation next to you. Walk your talk. Live your values. And ask yourself, “How can I make my return to originality?”